


tell me a secret

by actuallysleepdeprived (alambils)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Kinda, Marichat, late nights on the balcony, you know how it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21514402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alambils/pseuds/actuallysleepdeprived
Summary: chat noir pays marinette an unexpected visit and neither of them know what to say
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 3
Kudos: 102





	tell me a secret

**Author's Note:**

> hi thank you for reading i love you

Marinette stood on her balcony watching the lights of the city twinkle down below. The chill night air settled damply on her skin as she blew out a breath, watching it materialize in the air. “Look Tikki! I’m a dragon,” Marinette giggled softly. She huffed out another breath and laughed. “I think it’s time for Ladybug to rebrand. How do you feel about ‘Lady Dragon’?”  
Tikki giggled from her place on Marinette’s shoulder. “I don’t know about that, Marinette. I th-” Without warning, Tikki stopped talking and quietly zipped out of sight. Immediately, Marinette stiffened. Her every nerve was on edge, trying to decipher what spooked Tikki. After a second, she could feel it. A small breath, the feeling of eyes boring into her back. Marinette knew she was no longer alone.

“I know you’re there,” she said without turning around. She steadied her voice, trying to make it as nonchalant as possible as a sense of wariness began to creep in. For a few moments, there was silence. Then, a shuffling sound as a figure moved off the roof and out of the darkness.

“How did you know?” Chat Noir asked. Marinette didn’t need to see his face to know that he was grinning his famous Chesire grin, but she turned around anyways. The low light on the balcony made his eyes and shining teeth glow unnervingly.

“I could smell the catnip,” Marinette replied, the light-hearted quip barely disguising the unease in her stomach. Why was Chat Noir here? Was there trouble? Was someone hurt? Her mind was going a mile a minute trying to find out what was happening. Chat Noir gave a small laugh in response to her joke, still crouching on the fair side of the balcony. Cautiously, Marinette spoke again. “What are….. Why are you here? Is there an akuma on the loose?”

“No, nothing like that. Just doing a routine patrol, making sure the streets of Paris stay safe.”

Marinette just looked at him. She knew they hardly did patrol and that there wasn’t one scheduled for tonight. There was another reason Chat Noir was out and about, one he wasn’t telling her. “So why are you on my balcony instead of stopping some poor old lady from getting her purse stolen?”

“Well, here’s where I tell you the good news: Paris is very safe tonight. Nothing illegal happening as far as I can tell. And here’s the bad news: that means I’m bored.” He grinned at her again. Marinette wasn’t sure it was possible, but she could have sworn that this grin was at least fifteen percent more mischievous than his last one.

“I hate to disappoint, but I’m not quite sure how I’m supposed to help you here,” Marinette pulled her jacket tighter around her as the air dipped in temperature yet again.

“You know, I’m not sure either. I didn’t really think this exchange through before I rather ominously dropped into the shadows of your roof.” Chat Noir walked across the railing as he spoke before settling in. He sat on the rail next to Marinette, feet swinging above the busy streets.

Marinette shook her head good naturedly at that. “Well, do you want to talk? Play a game?” The pair sat in silence for a moment, neither part knowing what they wanted to say. The nagging thought that Chat Noir was hiding his motivations for being there kept bugging Marinette. After a few moments, and against her better judgement, she blurted out, “What is something you’ve never told anyone?”

Chat Noir’s head snapped towards her, cocked to the side. It was clear that he did not expect that question. His eyes were an indecipherable mixture of emotions as he seemingly weighed what to say. Slowly, as if he were afraid that stringing the words together would bring about the bad luck of his namesake, he started to speak. “I don’t think my father loves me.” A pause, a sigh, hands curled into fists. “He’s the only family I have left and yet, he acts as if he can’t even stand the sight of me. It’s like we’re in two different dimensions, occupying the same location but never crossing paths. He acts like I’m more nuisance than son. The only time he bothers to face me in person is when he’s telling me what to do, where to go, who to talk to. He controls my life but doesn’t want any part of it. The worst part of it?” Chat Noir tensed to the point where Marinette was nervous he was going to fling himself off the roof, safe into the night without having to talk. “The worst part is that sometimes, I wish he was gone. I miss him. Every day, I miss the father that I could have. I miss the approval I know I’m never going to get. I miss hypothetical games of catch in the backyard and going to baseball games and having a normal, happy relationship with my dad. If he were gone, I wouldn’t feel so bad about missing him. I hate missing the man who is right there, but so far away. I’d feel better about being alone if I knew he  _ couldn’t _ be there.” 

Marinette looked at the boy next to her, the one who all of a sudden seemed a lot younger. She wasn’t used to Chat Noir being vulnerable and found herself wondering how much of his bravado was just an act, a smoke screen covering up the person he really was. Almost on its own accord, her hand reached out to rest comfortingly on his arm. Right before it made contact, Chat Noir swung his head towards her, his bright green eyes a little sadder than usual. Embarrassed, Marinette pulled her hand quickly back.

“Now it’s your turn.” Chat’s voice was a little darker than normal, heavy with emotions Marinette was not used to seeing him experience. “I do one, you do one. Makes it fair.”  
To Marinette’s dissatisfaction, it was sound logic. She nodded and looked out at the city she loved so deeply. “I have this… friend. He knows me in a way that no one else does or ever can. We’ve shared so much together: secrets, experiences, jokes. I would trust him with anything from picking up a birthday card to holding my life in his hands but I’m really scared that he doesn’t know. He has a different idea of what it means to trust, to be loyal, to be friends and I don’t want… I _can’t_ match it. He says he understands, but I know he doesn’t really. All I want is for him to know what he means to me, but I can’t prove that in any way that matters to him.” 

Chat Noir gazed at Marinette in such a way that for a minute, she was scared he knew she was talking about him. Then, solemnly, he said, “I don’t have many friends inside the suit and only a few more outside of it. I know what’s it like to feel like you’re putting more into a relationship than you’re getting out. I really hope you let this friend know what he means to you. Losing a friend is not something you’d ever want to experience.”  
Marinette smiled kindly, finally getting up enough courage to place her hand on his arm. “I hope you consider me a friend, Chat Noir.” 

He smiled back and touched her hand reassuringly. “Of course, Marinette.” Turning away, he added so quietly that not even Dumbo the elephant could hear with his oversized ears: “More than you know.” 

The two stayed like that for a few minutes, not talking, just taking in the sights and sounds of the city that they have given so much to. What a pair they made: the boy missing what he could have had and the girl missing a part of her heart.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it!! kudos are always loved. if you comment, i legally owe you a kidney. (please comment). Have a nice day/night/evening/whatever!


End file.
